Chopped Liver – Night Nurse

Day One of my freedom following yesterday’s Great Escape. Y’know, it seems to be harder than I thought to convey intonation and variances of pitch in the one-dimensional world of written script.

I was very proud of my post yesterday – with all the “doo doo, doo doo doo doo doo” – and in my endeavours to point the reader in the direction I was facing, I even called the Post The Great Escape. But so far, everyone I have spoken to has words to the effect of – great you’re home but what was all that doo doo doo nonsense in your blog?

They just didn’t get my attempt at playing The Great Escape theme tune under the text – and that makes me so mad. Y’know it makes me wanna climb back over that wall and stay where I am more appreciated!

Not really.

But what did freak me out today was around mid-morning when I noticed that my wound dressing had come completely away. This is not good. In fact it’s bad.

I phone the hospital, they said to contact my GP to get a District Nurse sent out. This I did, and they faxed at around midday.

I spent all afternoon worrying about this open gaping wound preparing itself for some juicy infection to seriously impact my progress.

You gotta understand, for most people, well, all people, having an open wound is open to infection – but for me, as I am taking heavy doses of immuno-suppressant drugs, I actually dont have the power to fight off any infection at all – I need to be very careful. Lying around in one’s front room with an exposed gaping is not the textbook way to do this.

I got a phone call at 6pm from the District Nurse saying someone will be out in the morning. I said I cant wait. She said well, we are on weekend now is it urgent? I said you bet it is. Ok, I’ll come now.

The very nice woman came at 7:15 and took one look at me wound and practically shrieked – Oh thank goodness I came – this has to be attended to immediately.

I think I may have got away with it, you know – but I’ll never know how lucky I may have been.

5 Comments on “Chopped Liver – Night Nurse”

I’m glad you got that one sorted, it is alarming when it happens. When mine needed changing I eventually got the Districy Nurse to do it and likewise when she eventually saw it she was glad I called. I was a bit more prepared as the hospital gave me some dressings before i was free’d. So I was able to change my own but my drain wounds were leaking quite a lot.
Anyway I am in my bed on my laptop just about to get up and celebrate my freedom.

hi david:
i really appreciate what you have gone through,but i dont think it is appropriate to attack who,s really looking aftar you.
the mean concern for the doctors and nurses is your health.they dont want you to go out in this wild community with bad tests and in general bad condition.
you should be ashamed of your self to mention other patients in your blog,i am sure you were in the same situation.
so get agrip of your self and stop it man.
i hope you feeling better now.

hi turab ( apologies if that’s not your first name), firstly let me say thank you for reading my blog and taking the time to comment. However I cannot accept the criticism you level against me nor feel ashamed at any of my words or actions and am somewhat at a loss to see how you could have arrived at such a conclusion.

Let me state categorically and uneqivably that I have nothing but the highest admiration and gratitude for the doctors, the nursing staff, the transplant coordinators and the vast number of people who have given me the best care possible.

Let me also state that many of the docs and nursing staff regularly read my blog and I would never write anything to compromise their position.

And finally I have not mentioned any other patient by name but in the interests of keeping my writings both informative and entertaining I have recounted some events from the ward and how they affected me.

Oh, and I have now had the pleasure of two home visits from District Nurses and they have been most helpful and caring. I have been and still am in great hands.

I totally agree with David’s reply, he has not mentioned any other patients by name, and like me although we have our little quips about certain aspects of hospital life they are not there to cause offense or to undermine the great service we all receive. We all know that without these very talented people we would now be dead or at least very sick.